Blessed Carlo Acutis conceived and created a beautiful traveling exhibition on Eucharistic Miracles. This exhibition continues to tour Italy and the world; all the Eucharistic miracles featured in the exhibition have been collected in the book Eucharistic Miracles of the World, from which this text is taken.
In Alatri (FR), the cathedral of Saint Paul the Apostle still preserves the relic of the Eucharistic miracle that took place in 1228: a fragment of the host transformed into flesh.
A young woman, in order to regain her fiancΓ©'s love, turns to a sorceress, who orders her to steal a consecrated host to make a love potion.
During Mass, the girl manages to take a host, which she hides in a cloth, but when she arrives home, she realizes that the host has transformed into bloody flesh.
Numerous documents speak of this prodigy, including the bull of Gregory IX.
The most authoritative testimony about this miracle is found in the bull Fraternitatis tuae, written by Pope Gregory IX (March 13, 1228), in response to the Bishop of Alatri, Giovanni V. Here is the text of the papal bull: Β«Gregory, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his venerable brother, the Bishop of Alatri, greetings and apostolic blessing. We have received your letter, dearest brother, informing us that a certain young woman, influenced by the bad advice of an evil woman, after receiving the most sacred body of Christ from the priest, held it in her mouth until, when a favorable opportunity arose, she was able to hide it in a cloth, where, after three days, she found the same body, which she had received in the form of bread, transformed into flesh, as anyone can still see with their own eyes. Since both women have humbly revealed all this to you, you seek our opinion regarding the punishment to be imposed on the guilty parties.
First of all, we must give thanks with all our strength to Him who, although He works wondrously in all things, nevertheless sometimes repeats miracles and brings about new wonders, so that, strengthening faith in the truths of the Catholic Church, sustaining hope, and rekindling charity, He may call sinners back, convert the wicked, and confound the wickedness of heretics.
Therefore, dearest brother, by means of this apostolic letter, we decree that you impose a milder punishment on the young woman, whom we believe committed the criminal act more out of weakness than malice, especially since she is believed to have sufficiently repented by confessing her sin.
As for the instigator, who, through her perversity, drove her to commit the sacrilege, after applying the disciplinary measures that we believe it appropriate to leave to your judgment, order her to visit the nearest Bishops and humbly confess her offense, imploring forgiveness with devout submission.β The Supreme Pontiff interpreted the episode as a sign against the widespread heresies concerning the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and forgave the two repentant women. On the occasion of the 750th anniversary, a commemorative medal was minted depicting, on one side, the cathedral faΓ§ade surmounted by the reliquary of the Incarnate Host and, on the other, the bust of Pope Gregory IX with the papal bull.
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